The Castle Mark
by writingalife
Summary: Selected by the castle to carry a title not given in centuries, Lord Guardian Potter is no longer the boy he once was. Some HPDM, eventual HPSS
1. Chapter 1

He walked into the Great Hall, a sneer firmly fixed on his face. His chin held high, his eyes swept across the other students with disdain from behind long bangs. Black pants slung low around his hips made harsh clanking sounds from the chains attached to them as he strode between the tables. A tight black button down shirt showed off his almost too slim torso and toned arms. He wore black net fingerless gloves on his hands and a silver hoop pierced his lip, another dangled from his right ear. He stopped in front of the headmaster. He pulled up the sleeve on his right arm to show a glowing silver mark on his right wrist.

"I am no longer a student of this school. The castle has decreed it. You know this mark and you know what action it requires that you take. I will need living quarters and a classroom in the dungeons. You will see to it that these requirements are met in the next two hours or I will exercise a few of my more unpleasant rights."

With that, Harry Potter turned and left the hall as he had entered it, only this time it was to the sound of silence.

The eruption of talk that exploded following this event was cacophonous and distracting. Only the teachers at the head table noticed that Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape rose in unison and disappeared from the Great Hall.

"What does this mean, Headmaster?" McGonagall was the first to break the heavy silence that had accompanied the professors on their trip to Dumbledore's office.

Snape's head snapped up from the ground he had been fixated on to stare piercingly into Dumbledore's face.

"I am not entirely sure, Minerva. The castle mark has not appeared in over a century. As Mr. Potter stated, he is no longer a student of Hogwarts; in fact, aside from previous schooling he has no affiliation with the school, itself. He surpasses me as guardian of the castle and has all rights regarding its use, aside from prohibiting the school to exist within its walls, unless the castle decrees otherwise."

"Excuse me, the castle decrees?"

"Yes, Minerva, the castle can commune with anyone it chooses."

"What will the boy do here?"

The office gave a small shudder.

"Severus, I would advise that you give Mr. Potter a more appropriate title as he is now in a position above us all. In the past, anyone with the castle mark received the title of Lord Guardian. I suspect that you will be required to use this title henceforth. The Lord Guardian can do whatever he or she likes. I believe that the new Lord Guardian will be assuming a teaching position of some kind, a right very few have exercised."

"I thought you said that he had no affiliation with the school."

"He doesn't."

"I don't understand."

"I regret to say that I can't explain it further. The Lord Guardians of the castle have never revealed all their powers. Only the most general terms of the mark are known through observation and even these are not clear. It is possible that the school could be forced out of the castle should the Lord and the castle desire it. I do not believe that this will happen, but I can't promise that it won't."

"Where do you plan to place the bo-, Lord Guardian?" Snape asked, nearly forgetting the new title and infusing it with as much disdain as possible.

"I will not be placing him anywhere. His asking me for quarters was merely a courtesy for the ears of the students, a small attempt at preventing them from understanding the true extent of his transformation. The castle is his and he will live where he decides, most likely in quarters hidden from all but the Lord Guardian. The castle will create a space for his classroom in the dungeons, rearranging itself to suit him. He owes me no respect and no allegiance now."

It was with a heavy heart that the professors of Hogwarts went to their quarters that night. The news of the appearance of the castle mark had spread to them all and there were none that did not recognize the significance of it. They had watched as the relations between the headmaster and Harry Potter had grown more strained throughout the years, fearing that one day Dumbledore would no longer have sway over the boy. They were terrified of this because they had seen the latent magic lurking beneath his somewhat mediocre performance at school. They had been aware that the boy had been holding back his true power and now that he no longer was under the guardianship of Albus Dumbledore they feared that he would rise out of control, unable to be stopped by anyone in the wizarding world. They could not blame him. He had been through enough loss in his lifetime to turn anyone; he had lived a life much like that of the dark wizard they all feared.

Draco followed Harry from several meters away as he left the Great Hall into parts of the castle he had never seen, each passageway growing darker and dustier, until Harry reached a dark arch and stopped.

"Enough of this trailing behind me, Draco, you may follow me in."

Draco walked forward quietly and made no excuse. Harry held his wrist up and pressed the silver mark, glowing faintly, to the side of the arch while placing the other hand on Draco's hip. A second later, both men were standing in a gloomy set of rooms lit by torches and candles. Harry jerked his hand off of Draco's hip and walked over to a glass cabinet filled with bottles. He pulled out a bottle of amber liquid and with a graceful twist of his hand, conjured two brandy glasses. He walked to the two black armchairs in front of the fireplace and poured two glasses. Draco walked over and waited for Harry to choose an armchair and a glass before taking one of each, himself. He sat silently for a time, but was unable to contain himself.

"What has happened, Harry? What is this castle mark business?"

"You are breaking my rules, Draco. We do not talk. If you want to fuck fine, but if you think anything besides fucking is going to happen, you are wrong. You may sit and get drunk in silence, we can fuck or you can go."

Rebuffed, Draco downed his brandy and stood.

"Bedroom?"

"No, take your clothes off now."

Draco slowly removed each article of clothing and folded them beside his chair.

"You aren't ready, Draco. Lie down in front of me and prepare yourself."

Draco did as he was told.

"Get up."

Draco stood, making no attempt to move. Harry got up, the front of his pants bulging. He got behind Draco and wrapped a hand around his member, stimulating it with slow tugs. He then pushed Draco down onto his hands and knees. Wrenching his belt open, he swiftly undid his pants and muttered a quick lubrication spell before pushed himself into Draco. He slammed into him hard and fast, ignoring Draco's cries which were a mix of pleasure and pain. He reached a hand forward and quickly brought Draco to climax, continuing to pound into him as he was gasping with his release. He waved a hand and immediately, Draco was hard and desperate for release again. This time, Harry did not touch him. He slowed his movements until the blond was writhing with need and then he set a steady pace, thrusting deep and hard until the other man came. Only then did Harry finish and pull out. He performed a silent cleansing spell, pulled up his pants and got up.

"Go or stay as you wish. Help yourself to more brandy if you want."

Harry walked across to what appeared to be a wall, placed his wrist to it and disappeared. Draco filled his glass to the brim and downed it before putting his clothes on slowly and walking out of the only door in the room. Harry was a bastard, but the sex was a drug he didn't want to give up.

The next morning, some Hogwarts students in the sixth and seventh year noted that a new class was on their schedule. It had no course name, only the listing of the professor Lord Guardian Potter and the time. With trepidation, the selected began their trip in the dungeons, far deeper into the depths of the castle than any other class had been. About thirty students had assembled by nine and sat quietly. It as then that he arrived, walking in with firm steps and placing a box on the desk. He turned to speak in carefully measured words.

"You have been selected as students to be specially trained and prepared for the coming war. This class has no curriculum; it will touch on many fields of magic. It has no textbook. This entire class will be taught at my discretion. You do not share information learned here with anyone or I will know. There will be exams, but in the end, your grade depends on me as well. We will work with potions, spells, dueling and many other less traditional studies. You will be here every class unless you have a dire excuse for your absence. There will be work and meetings outside of scheduled class time. You will be available to me at all times and you will answer to me for your actions. I offer you a single chance to refuse. You may leave now, but do not come back. You should be aware that by remaining in my course, you will be more educated and prepared than any other students here."

He stood for a moment, making eye contact with all the students, excluding the few who quietly gathered their belongings and filed out of the classroom. He then took off his robes and stood in front of the class in black dress pants and a long sleeved shirt.

"Good, now, you may call me Professor Potter, regardless of my formal title. I will not teach in robes and you will remove your own while in my class as they can be dangerous while making potions and restrictive while dueling. Today's class will be quite short as I have a few matters to attend to and you have some reading to do before you are prepared for my first lesson."

Harry walked to his desk, opened the box and lifted out a large stack of papers. He began to pass out the packets, each with the student's name on it.

"Do not complain about the size of these. You will be required to know them intimately. Do not discuss them with each other for you have different information. When we meet next week, you will be required to present a part of your packet to the class and answer questions about it. The questions may concern any part of the information that I have given you a well as personal analysis of the data. This will not only be an evaluation of your skills, it may also determine whether you remain in my class or not. Finally, this assignment will be your first grade. You are dismissed."

Severus Snape looked around his potions class and noticed that most of his best students were missing. Malfoy wasn't in his usual seat, Zabini wasn't sitting next to him and he hated to include her, but Granger was gone as well. He was left with a room of competent potions students, but none who excelled. What the hell was going on? He was going to see the old coot as soon as this class ended.

"Excuse me, Headmaster, but I seem to have lost some of my more able potions students."

"Yes, Severus, I am afraid that is the case."

Severus seethed.

"Would you mind explaining to me where they have gone?"

"They have been placed in the Lord Guardian's class."

"You mean to tell me that Potter's stolen my students?"

The office shuddered.

"Severus, I have warned you. You must call him by his title or the castle will take actions against you."

"What has the Lord Guardian appropriated my students?"

"I can not tell you, Severus. He does not answer to me nor does he feel the need to explain himself. All that I can say is that as of an hour ago, I was informed by the Lord Guardian that certain students would no longer be enrolled in the Hogwarts curriculum. As of this moment about thirty students are strictly under his tutelage. You may take up the matter with him if you wish though he did assure me that some of these students would be returned within the week following their first evaluation."

Severus was dumbfounded.

"And we have no recourse?"

"None."

"I believe that I shall go have a chat with our Lord Guardian."

"As you wish, Severus, I am sure that I cannot stop you, but be careful in your address. You do not want to anger Hogwarts. It would not be wise to make an enemy of the place in which you live."

With a skeptical look, Snape rose and stalked out of the Headmaster's office, intent on finding the thorn in his side.

"Might I have a word with you?"

Harry turned around with an amused look on his face.

"Of course, Professor Snape, I've been expecting you. Allow me to make this a little easier for you, I will allow you to use whatever address you wish though I warn you that the castle will probably exercise its sense of humor in retaliation should you be too insulting."

"You have taken my students, Potter."

"Let's be correct, Professor. I have not taken all your students; I have merely taken your best and favorite students."

"How do you propose to continue their education?"

"I will teach them."

Snape let out a harsh laugh.

"You honestly propose to teach anyone advanced potions given your own ineptitude?"

"Professor, surely you don't believe that I exercised my full talents as a student in Hogwarts. Do you really think that I would allow anyone here to see the range of my power?"

"Of course I do, you would have gotten even more attention had you been more than a mediocre student with some talent at defense against the dark arts."

"Ah, yes, the continued fundamental misunderstanding between us which rest solely on your self-serving perception of my personality. I am growing weary of this, Professor. You are a most gifted man and if you had ever wanted to see beyond the false persona that you have created for me, you would know exactly how powerful I am. You would sense it and you would harbor a secret fear that the power I possess would lead me to dark destruction for few wizards have the strength of self to contain such magic. If you looked into my eyes and saw more than their color, you would know that I have more capabilities that you or any other teacher here is aware of and you would not question my right to teach students who will be involved in the final battle of our age."

The air around Snape began to grow heavy as Harry spoke and Snape began to sweat with its oppression. As Harry finished speaking his calm, but firm words, the pressure evaporated.

"Do not continue to anger me, Professor, or I will treat you to a more intense display of my power."

"If you did so, you would be no better than the Dark Lord."

Harry's eyes grew to be a more brilliant, piercing green, but when he spoke it was with a light tone.

"I meant no such thing, Professor. You would be quite safe and unharmed. Your notions, however, would be forcefully shattered. I have no wish to you make you fear me. I only hope that the magic I have just performed serves you well. Good day."

As Harry walked away from him, Snape called out, "What have you done, Potter?"

Harry merely lifted a hand and waved once. Severus didn't move, almost afraid to find out what Potter had done to him, but also incredibly angry that a magic had been performed on him without his consent and even worse, without his knowledge. He should have sensed something. It wasn't until he turned to leave that he realized what the boy had done. All of the pains h had accumulated over his work as a spy had disappeared. The lingering effects of the cruciatus curse were gone, the ache in his old injuries was gone and he could move freely again. Potter had healed pains that he had expected to feel for the rest of his life, a feat that not even Dumbledore could accomplish. The boy was more gifted than he had let on. He had performed an incredibly powerful spell silently, while angry, without alerting Severus that had helped him. This was not what he would have expected from the Golden Boy. Slightly angry, Severus continued to his rooms, forced to admit to himself that he had been impressed and that his curiosity was aroused.

"Excuse me, Harry, but I have a few questions regarding the assignment."

"Ms. Granger, I will ignore for the moment your improper choice of address, but I will not tolerate it in the future."

Hermione looked stunned.  
"But, Harry…"

"Ms. Granger, do not force me to take away house points. I am your professor and you will address me as such."

"Professor Potter, I have a few questions to ask you. What is the purpose of this class and how do we attend our usual classes when you wish for us to be available at all times?"

"You no longer belong to the Hogwarts curriculum, Ms. Granger. You answer only to me, your head of house and the headmaster. As for your other question, as I stated in class, I am preparing you to take a part in the coming war."

Hermione was silent for a moment.

"Professor, what about the assignment, what did you mean about a personal analysis?"

"Ms. Granger, I will not be explaining any more about the assignment."

"But, Professor…"

"No, Ms. Granger, I informed you as well as the rest of the class that this would serve as an evaluation of your skills. You must know the material inside and out. You must not only know it, you must be able to work with it, understand what you can learn from it, make observations and analyze it in as many ways as you can. The ability to memorize or know serves very little practical purpose. It is the ability to use that you must cultivate."

Hermione stood uncertainly.

"Ms. Granger, unless you would like to begin your evaluation now, I suggest that you go. You make also save me the trouble of having to repeat this conversation by passing it along to your fellow students as well as the knowledge that if the do well on this first test, I shall be more apt to help them in the future."

At this Hermione nodded, mumbled a thank you and walked out, only to be replaced by Draco Malfoy.

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Harry, I was wondering if you wanted some company," Draco accompanied his question with a suggestive wink.

"I am sorry to say this, Mr. Malfoy, but I am afraid that we will be terminating our extracurricular activities as of now. I am your professor and there can be no informalities between us."  
"Why not? No one knows now nor will they find out."

"I am not concerned about discretion. You must see me as your professor and nothing else. If you wish to remove yourself from my class, you may."

"No, sir, I will see you in class next week."

Draco left and Harry relaxed into his office chair for the first time all day. Thank god, it was over. He was sick of being in professor mode. It was time to go to Hogsmeade, have a few drinks, and find some fresh company. It had been time to get rid of Draco anyway. The sex was getting boring. With that thought, Harry apparated out of Hogwarts, unaffected by the wards, and reappeared in Hogsmeade.

"Good evening, Rosmerta, a pint of your finest ale, please."

"Of course, Harry, how was the first day?"

"It was trying. Any likely candidates for my advances here?"

"Well, Oliver Wood is down at the end of the bar, just released from his latest foreign fling. The Weasley twins are around here somewhere and a few others whose names I don't know are floating about."

"Sounds promising."

"Happy hunting."

"You know I'm secretly biding my time in wait for you, dear."

"You are sweet, but much too young for me. It's hard enough to keep the ones my age in line; I wouldn't have a chance with you."

"But that's half the fun."

"Go on, I've got other customers to attend to."

"My offer stands."

"And maybe one night, I'll take it."

"I live in hopes."

Harry turned around on his bar stool and surveyed the crowd. He could just see Oliver Wood at the end of the bar, handsome, well-built, and a lovely accent, but rumored to be a bit clingy and dull in bed. The Weasley twins were easy. He'd had them both. If he could convince them to have a threesome though, he wouldn't object to spending the night in their company. The strangers were intriguing, but none of them really stood out. He decided to have another drink before testing the Weasley waters and maybe contenting himself with Oliver. He could fix the dull bit and whether the man was clingy or not didn't matter; he wouldn't be around to find out.

"Potter."

Oh hell, he knew that voice; it could only belong to Severus Snape. Trust that infuriating man to find him at a bar and not do the decent thing: leave him the fuck alone.

"Yes, Professor?"

"What did you do to me?"

"I thought that the results would be obvious. I healed you."

"No one could heal those injuries."

"I can and did. Now, would you please leave me to my drink? I left the school for a reason and I do not plan on being harassed outside of it."

Snape ignored him.

"What spell did you use?"

"I didn't use a spell."

"You had to have used a spell. What was it?"

"I didn't."

"What did you then, wish it away?" Snape sneered.

"In a manner of speaking, more appropriately, I used my magic to will it away and no, I can't explain further nor can I teach you how to do it."

"As if I could learn from you, Potter."

"Whether it pleases you or not, there is quite a lot you could learn from me and it is not limited to courtesy and agreeableness. You have enough power to do more than you can imagine, but until you realize this, you limit yourself. I could bring you to that realization, but you will not allow it and I will not waste my time."

"You are telling me that in thirty-seven years, I have not learned how to maximize my powers and that you, a seventeen year old, have."

"Yes and no, I am not seventeen any longer, Professor Snape. I have lived outside of your time and I have been given knowledge that you cannot imagine. I have lived for twenty-five years, eight of which were not in this dimension.

Snape gasped; he had heard the old tales of living in another time, but it had been centuries since anyone had claimed to have done so.

"I believe that I am done with this conversation, Professor. Do have a good night."

Snape was dumbfounded. He did not move from his seat as Harry sauntered off to the end of the bar. He merely sat and pondered the surprising information that he had just received. He barely noticed when Oliver and Harry left together, presumable to continue some tiring conversation about quidditch. In fact, he sat all night in the same spot, until the pub closed and he left for Hogwarts, alone.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews. I know this is a short chapter and I apologize, but I've had family in the hospital and I wanted to get something out. I appreciate all the interest and I can't wait to get past the preliminaries. Thanks again and please continue to review.

"Good morning, class, without further ado, I believe we will begin our evaluations."

The entire class shifted nervously.

"Ms. Granger, we will begin with you. A few quick instructions: you will stand behind your seat and answer my questions as well as any your classmates wish to ask. I may stop you at any point and you will get the results immediately after class. For those not presenting, do not believe you can focus your attention elsewhere, I may direct questions to the claws and I expect you to participate in the questioning. Now, Ms. Granger, I would like you to give a brief overview of your packet."

"My packet covers the first encounter between Professor Potter and Voldemort."

"Incorrect, Ms. Granger, this was my second encounter, but continue."

Hermione faltered for a moment before regaining her composure.

"In this encounter, Professor Potter was aided by myself and Ron."

"Again, Ms. Granger, you are incorrect. At the point of my meeting with Voldemort, I was aided by no one. You may continue."

"Professor Potter was able to secure the Philosopher's stone and hold off Professor Quirrell until the Headmaster arrived."

"Ms. Granger, what was the key to securing the stone?"

"Professor Dumbledore had used a mirror to show you where the stone was, but not someone with evil intent."

"I'll give you a chance to further explain your response, Ms. Granger."

"The Headmaster used some sort of charm which responded only to pure intentions and would allow you or anyone who did not want to use the stone to retrieve it."

"You are partially correct. Would someone else like to attempt to explain this? I will let you all know that this was no ordinary mirror. It was the Mirror of Erised which Ms. Granger neglected to mention. Yes, Mr. Longbottom?"

"The Mirror of Erised is made to show only what one desires most, above all else. I would predict that Quirrell saw himself using the stone or presenting it to You-Know-Who while you only saw yourself receiving the stone and so your desire was selfless, allowing you to get the stone."

"Very good, Mr. Longbottom, but I have one complaint. In my class, Lord Voldemort shall be called by his name. Do not be concerned that this will reflect poorly on you, Mr. Longbottom, it is my fault for neglecting to mention it sooner. Back to Ms. Granger, how important was magical ability in this encounter, including the tasks prior to my meeting with Voldemort?"

"It was extremely important, Professor. Without it, we could not have escaped the Devil's Snare or used the brooms; without it, you could not have defeated Quirrell."

"Wrong, someone else? Yes, Mr. Weasley?"

Ron answered nervously, "Magical ability was highly unimportant, Professor. To defeat the chess game, one needed to have strategy. To defeat the Devil's Snare, knowledge of herbology was necessary. To walk through the fire, one had to have the logic to defeat the word puzzle. To find the key, you simply had to observe which had already been used. The troll was merely a test of strength and the only reason you were able to hold off Quirrell was your mother's protection."

"Very impressive, Mr. Weasley, I have excessively pleased with your analysis. Ms. Granger, you may sit down."

Hermione sat quietly, obviously shaken by her evaluation.

"Now, Mr. Thomas, it is your turn. Why is Voldemort able to gain a large following regardless of his use of violence on his followers?"

"The most important element of Voldemort's ability to gain support is his audience. Voldemort appeals to an elite group of wizards who have been accustomed to believing themselves superior to the rest of the magical community. They have always protected their bloodlines and believed that certain privileges should be accorded to them. Voldemort promises them a future that fulfills these wishes. It will protect them as well as elevate them beyond what economic power, family name, and ancients can achieve. The violence directed toward his followers is on a small enough scale that it does not concern them. They can easily rationalize it by claiming that the victim was not a true supporter or made a grave error or committed some other offense. In the end, they also believe that Voldemort's actions will be easily justified once he is victorious and they reap numerous benefits."

"A very satisfactory answer, Mr. Thomas, I am pleased. One more question though, what type of propaganda does Voldemort use?"

"Voldemort uses little propaganda. His ideology has been well publicized in the past and he has to do little to find an audience that willing believes it and endorses it. To these people, he promises rewards for their support. He does what he can to control the news such as using his followers to get pieces published which defame known supporters of the light. He also funds what he calls "scientific research" to prove that magic becomes diluted when purebloods mix with lesser blooded wizards."

"Well done, Mr. Thomas, you may sit. Mr. Boot, stand please, what are the faults of the shield charm?"

"The shield charm can be broken by any strong spell and is especially dangerous because it drains a wizard quickly."

"What are the limits of accio?"

"Distance and barriers. It is also difficult to control the speed at which the object is summoned."

"Why is a disarming spell ineffective in some duels?"

"Not all wizards require a wand to perform magic."

"How does one prepare against the use of silent wandless magic?"

"A well trained wizard can learn to sense the performance of magic as well as the feel of certain spells."

"What are simple spells useful while dueling?"

"Used creatively, simple spells throw many wizards off guard as well as give them a false sense of security. More importantly, they can be used in quicker succession and are less taxing on a wizard."

"Good job, Mr. Boot, you may sit."

The examinations continued for several hours, the topics included all of Harry's encounters with Voldemort, the tri-wizard tasks, medical magic, potions and many others. There was even a presentation on the effect of Voldemort on muggles and their awareness of the changes taking place outside of their world. Finally each student had finished and Professor Potter stood.

"Congratulations, you have completed your first examination. A few general remarks: as a class you have performed as expected. Your work was mediocre at best, but I won't fault you for your previous education. I have decided that for the moment, I will allow all of you to stay. I would like to see you perform practically before making any decisions. Tomorrow, you will have a second evaluation on your dueling skills as well as a lesson following the duels. You should make no preparations for the evaluation. I need to see how well you would perform at this moment. You are dismissed for the day."

One eager hand rose.

"Yes, Ms. Granger?"

"Professor Potter, do we still get our results?"

"Ms. Granger, the only result you get is that you may remain in my class."

"But, Professor Potter, what about our grades?"

"I believe that I told you on the first day of class that your grade was entirely at my discretion. Now unless you would like to begin your second evaluation with me as your partner, I suggest that you leave."

The class rose quickly, gathered their things and left. Harry stayed in his chair and began to read the notes that he had taken on each student, adding marks in the margins of his paper and muttering under his breath.

"Two classes and you have already begun talking to yourself. You exceed even my expectations of your inability."

"Good afternoon, Professor Snape, what have I done to earn the pleasure of this visit?"

"I want to know when I am getting my students back."

"At the moment, you are not getting anyone back though I would venture a prediction that after tomorrow I will be returning Ms. Granger to you."

"Why would you return, Ms. Granger? I would have thought that she had a free pass in your class regardless of her performance."

"You were mistaken. Ms. Granger displays very little ability to apply the knowledge that she has attained. She also requires too many instructions indicating that she has little ability to act on her own which will not serve her or anyone else well in the war."

"You are right about her abilities. I must say I am surprised that you were astute enough to pick up on this."  
"I will consider that a compliment. I should explain that I have seen how she performs in action. Our first year, when Ron and I were trapped in the Devil's Snare, she was able to recite the information about the plant, but it took Ron to remind her that she could create a heat source to destroy it. I have had some suspicions about her abilities for some time now.

Harry closed his notes and slid them into a drawer in his desk which he locked with a battery of spells.

"What do you teach tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow, they duel and we work on apparation."

"You can't apparate in the castle."

"You forget, Professor Snape, I am the Lord Guardian. I can do what I like."

And with that, Harry walked out.


End file.
